Syracuse, NY - Today at a press availability in Syracuse, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke about the importance of supporting our troops overseas and the hope for a quick and complete victory in Iraq. She also noted that the wartime supplemental appropriations bill being sent by the Administration to Congress is an opportunity to both provide necessary resources to our men and women serving abroad and assistance to our first responders here at home who are contending with increased war-related security risks.

Senator Clinton recommended that the amount allocated in the supplemental for homeland security be at least ten percent of what is allocated for the costs of the war - for example if the war costs are $75 billion, they should add an additional 7.5 billion for homeland security.

The following are the Senator's statements from Q and A in Syracuse, NY:

"I know from my position on the Armed Services Committee…and I know from my previous experience as First Lady, we have the finest men and women in the world in our Armed Forces. There is no better trained, better equipped, better motivated military and I think right now we all want to send our prayers and best wishes for their mission and their safe return home. As with many Americans, I'm watching the coverage, I'm talking with my colleagues and getting additional information to make sure that I know exactly what is happening. I just hope that we can finish this job as quickly as possible….

"I've never been one of those that thought this was going to be done in 24-48 hours as some people had suggested. This is a very difficult undertaking in very treacherous terrain, and that should have become obvious to people over the weekend. We just have to stand united and make sure our men and women in uniform know that we're behind them.

"Right now our focus has to be on what is going on in Iraq and we have to stand united and provide every possible resource. I have a slightly different issue though that I think the American public needs to address. While we are providing every support we know is needed for our men and women in military uniforms, we're not doing what we need to do here at home to protect our homeland. This is something that I've been talking about since November 2001 and have introduced legislation on.

"I know that probably tomorrow the President is going to send up a supplemental to fund the war in Iraq, I'm sure we'll have overwhelming support. But, there must be within that supplemental for our military, significant funding for our men and women on the front lines here at home -- our firefighters, our police officers our emergency responders our doctors and nurses and our emergency rooms. I hope it will at least spend ten percent of whatever the amount for the war supplemental, on homeland security.

"We are in a two-front war. We are offense in Iraq and we have to finish the job, and we have to do it as smartly and effectively with minimal loss of life as possible. But also, we need our defense here at home….I trust our military leadership to the job they've been trained to do. I know a lot of our generals and officers. They are extremely knowledgeable, well-trained and very well versed in what they're doing. I want to make sure that our men and women here on the front lines get the same support."

Senator Clinton has proposed a $7 billion Domestic Defense Fund to be included in this emergency supplemental, and has written to President Bush asking him to support the proposal. This fund would be administered by the Office of Domestic Preparedness within the Department of Homeland Security. It would provide $5 billion in base-level direct funding for first responders, $1 billion for an emergency reserve fund that can be tapped into by cities and states in times of heightened threat, discovery of a terrorist cell, or similar emergency need, and another $1 billion in funding for "high-threat" areas like New York City and Washington, DC.

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